Officer adds notches to his awards belt

Newport Beach Police Officer Sam Sa walks with a subtle confidence.

He doesn’t strut with his chest puffed out or offer a bone-crunching handshake when he introduces himself, though it’d be hard to blame him if he did.

The 34-year-old, who doesn’t even look like he’s 30 yet, grew up in Richmond, a rough city in the San Francisco Bay Area, was a squad leader in Fallouja during one of the major offensives in the Iraq War, and is a world-class taekwondo champion.

“It feels weird being interviewed,” he said with an embarrassed smile Wednesday.

He was interviewed a day after being recognized along with other members of the force at the 39th annual Police Appreciation Breakfast. He and Officer Matt Wood received an Award of Merit for arresting a suspect last year wanted for attempting to rob a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy at gunpoint in Westminster.

For all his accomplishments, probably not many people outside his friends, family and colleagues know about them.

Two of the many things he’s learned in practicing taekwondo — which he’s been practicing since he was 5 — are humbleness and patience. Both come in handy as one of the department’s bicycle officers.

Sa ended his military career as a staff sergeant two years ago. He joined the army after graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in human bio-dynamics, basically exercise physiology, he said. He is married and became a father in September when his son, Benjamin, was born.

Just last month, he added another feat to his ever-growing list — gold medalist at the U.S. Open Taekwondo Championship in Las Vegas for men between 33 and 40 years old in the Bantamweight division.

“You find out a lot about yourself” in taekwondo, he said.

Sa remembered a competition about 10 years ago where he and his opponent were fighting on a hardwood floor because padding wasn’t available. He slipped and smashed his hand into the ground and it immediately began to swell and ache. He couldn’t use it, he said.

Instead of giving up because of the injury, he said he thought about all the training and hard work he’d put in to build up to that moment. He fought on and won.

“This isn’t about losing or winning; it’s about what you get out of it,” he said.

The fighting is only part of taekwondo, Sa said. He was introduced to the sport by his father who learned it in Korea. The important part is the discipline and patience. Mix that with the honor and ethics of being a police officer and he was drawn to the job, he said. When he got out of the military, he said friends told him to go into the force, which has a familiar, paramilitary structure.

“Police officers are supposed to help the community, and I like helping the community,” Sa said.

He said he hopes his son will one day follow in his martial arts footsteps, but he’ll let him explore for himself.

“In any martial art, if you find someone good role models, it really helps people mature,” he said. “It helped keep me out of trouble and develop into the person I am today.”